


Black Mirror

by CuddlyMarshmallow, PinkNinjaWearsPink



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Persona 4
Genre: Akuma, Angst, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Idiots in Love, Midnight Channel, Mistaken Identity, Multi, Romance, Secret Identity, Slow To Update, The crossover everyone has been waiting for, oblivious teens, persona - Freeform, rich boi, tv
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-02-09 13:16:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12888675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuddlyMarshmallow/pseuds/CuddlyMarshmallow, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkNinjaWearsPink/pseuds/PinkNinjaWearsPink
Summary: The Midnight Channel appears once again in Inaba and the Investigation team is forced to investigate when an unexpected victim appears on the TV.They partner up with Paris’ most beloved duo and everything goes downhill from there.





	1. It's Back

**30/6/ **2009** \- Saturday  
** **Daytime**

Yu’s eyes dragged across the chalkboard until a harsh cough interrupted his thoughts.“Yu, can you answer this please?” His attention diverted to the teacher, who then asked “Where did French food stem from?”

He stood up, responding in turn, “Italian Food.”

“Very good. You may now sit down.”

He slid back into his seat as instructed. His eyes wandered to the clock hanging in the corner of the room and started counting the minutes till class ended.

‘8 minutes’

‘5 minutes’

‘1 minute’

The tolling of the school bell shattered the careful silence that the teacher had spent all lesson creating through stern glares and accusatory coughs. As the school day ended, so too did the teacher's’ control on their pupils’ actions, and the students took this opportunity to start talking loudly about their plans for the afternoon. The teacher tried to shout, “Alright, Homework for tonight’s on page 85. Don’t forget, or it’s a week of detention!” over the din, but failed to be heard by most.

Yu, sitting near the back, started placing his books in his bag as Yosuke approached his desk. The lanky, ginger-haired boy walked up to Yu, hands in his jacket pockets, and a look of despair on his face. The boy was the son of the manager of the local supermarket, Junes, but was not very academically successful. He slammed his elbows down on Yu’s desk, leaning forwards and giving out a low groan of resentment.”Man, I’m so screwed for tests next week.”

Yu looked blankly at his friend. “You’re screwed for tests every term, what do you do?”

He turns back at him, anguish clear on his face at his friend’s scorn. “Nothing!”

“Exactly. That’s why you’re always ill-prepared.” Yu responds coldly, causing Hanamura to feign tears.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t slacking off all the time, Yosuke, you’d have a chance!” said a snide voice in his ear. He jumped and turned around to come face to face with Chie Satonaka, resident beef bowl demolisher and a constant pain in his neck. She moved around the table, pulling along a dark-haired girl behind her— Yukiko Amagi— the demure heiress to the Amagi Inn, Inaba’s treasured hot spring-centered hotel.

Chie shot him a cheeky grin and popped the collar of her bright green sports jacket. Yosuke glared at her, “Hey,” he said, “It’s not like you can do any better!”

Chie’s grin dropped into a scowl and she flips him off. Yosuke started cackling and threw himself back into his chair, its thin frame wobbling as his body shook with mirth. Yukiko was torn between looking either amused or scandalised at her friends’ antics. She settled for an emphatic sigh.

“Now, now,” she said cajolingly. “stop it you two.”

As they settled down, Yu walked up to the trio and nodded at them, his school bag in hand. “Let’s get moving, we have to pick up the others on our way out.” He said.

The group walked down to the first floor of Yasoinaba High, and crowded around the lockers. As Yu started fumbling with his lock, he heard someone call out his name.

“-senpai! hey, Yu-senpai!”

He looked up to see Rise Kujikawa running headlong towards him at breakneck speed. She tried to jump into his arms but he sidestepped the fluffy-haired girl and gave her a polite smile.

“Aw, you’re no fun, senpai.” she said with a pout.

“Rise-chan! Come to join the party at last?” said Yosuke.

The former idol stuck her tongue out at him. “I got held up,” she said as she looked around her. “Where’s Kanji-kun and Naoto-chan?”

“Right here.”

Kanji Tatsumi and Naoto Shirogane walked up to the group, “Yo,” said Kanji. “What’s on the agenda for today, huh?”

Chie and Yosuke groaned at Kanji’s question.

“Ugh.” said Chie.

“We’re heading to Yu’s house for a group study session today, didn’t you get the memo?” said Yosuke with a grimace.

Naoto perked up at that. “Oh, that’s perfect!” she said with a rare smile. “Kanji-kun’s been having trouble with Sofue’s class - he keeps getting his dates mixed up and my tutoring doesn’t seem to get through to him.”

Yosuke sidled up to Kanji with a sly smile on his face, “You never told us that the two of you were doing study dates,” he said quietly, “I bet the the reason why you haven’t been getting those dates right aren't because you’re stupid or something like that. Just … distracted.”

Kanji turned an unbecoming shade of red and elbowed Yosuke in the ribs. “S-Shut up!” he growled.

Yosuke yelped and Naoto and the others turned towards the two.

“Kanji-kun, Yosuke-senpai, are you two alright?” asked Naoto in concern.

Yosuke groaned, rubbing his side,”I’m fine, but I bet Kanji over here would feel better if you kis- ARGH!” he yelped again because this time, Kanji had all but tossed him across the room.

With a face that still rivaled a tomato, Kanji fumbled with his shoes and slammed his locker shut. “L-let’s go,” he mumbled, and made his way towards the gates.

The rest of the group looked at Yosuke in askance.

“I value my life far too much to say anything after that.” he said before promptly flopping onto his back. “My match-making days are over.”

 

* * *

 **30/6/ **2009** \- Saturday **  
**After School**

 

After a quick stop at Junes to pick up snacks and Teddie, the gang headed off towards the Dojima residence.

“Okay. So, Teddie— you’re on Nanako duty.” Yu stated, looking down at the tiny blond. “It’s great that you offered to come with today, I’d feel bad if I had to just leave her like that. Dojima-san’s working late again today.”

“It’s alright, sensei,” said Teddie, happily. “I love spending time with Nana-chan.”

They reached the residence a few minutes later, with the setting sun casting a warm pink glow over the run down house. A young girl was hunched over in the garden watering some cabbages. She looked up at the noise the approaching group made and her face lit up with a big smile.

Nanako ran out to meet them. “Big bro! Welcome home.” she said, and with a somewhat shy smile she greeted the others. “Welcome home everyone!”

“Looks like we were here in the nick of time,” Yu extended his hand and looked to the sky, “it looks like it’s going to pour down soon.”

They entered the residence and took of their shoes, all while exchanging pleasantries. Nanako brought them some tea and the gang drank up gratefully. Once they had settled they gathered around the cramped table, and attempted to buckle down and study whilst Nanako and Teddie played. But soon enough, the mind numbing review had many spirits broken.

“Can we take a break yet?” Rise whined, arms stretched across the table. “Why do we even need to know-“ she glanced at her notes, “The scientific name for a brain freeze!? Can’t we just look it up?”

Chie fell to the floor in frustration, “Yeah! Everything’s just so confusing!”

Naoto carefully placed her mechanical pencil on the spine of her book, “Maybe it’s time time we took that break.” She suggested, “Taking a step back and looking at the problem in new light would be beneficial.”

“Finally!” Kanji said, relieved, “I’m starving!”

“Why don’t we order something to eat, I’m a bit famished myself.” Yukiko proposed.

“I like the sound of that!” Yosuke exclaimed, “Let’s order something from Aiya’s”

“Already on it!” Chie said with the phone pressed to her ear. “Hi, can I order the Party Meal? Yes. Uh-huh. Yeah, and extra steak please. Ok, Thanks!”

Yu stood up and stretched, “Let’s cl-” He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Delivery.” Called a monotonous voice.

“That was quick.” Yu opened the door, only to be greeted by a blank stare and hesitantly took the dishes. “Thanks Aika”

“That will be 5000¥.”

He promptly handed over the money and closed the door, letting a sigh of relief escape his mouth.

“The Mega Steak Bowl is mine!” Chie yelled excitedly.

Before anyone else claimed anymore dishes, Yu spoke in a loud tone. “What would you like Nanako?”

“Uh, can I just have some of the ramen please?” She pointed at bowl far from her reach. Yu reached for the bowl, but once again was cut off.

“Of course you can Nanako-chan,” Rise responded, quickly grabbing the dish and passing it to Nanako. “it’s all yours!”

Yu looked a bit bewildered at the interruption, but he quickly let it go and served up the rest of the food. The steak bowl was divided between the others (much to Chie’s chagrin) and they all fill up their bowls with miso. It was a cozy setting. The rain pattered down the windows and the cicadas had gone silent. Everyone was warm inside, the silken miso and the steak bowls filled everyone up to their necks and after finishing up, the group spent some time to just lean back and relax.

The gang were still seated around the table, upon which a lazy game of tiddlywinks had started. Yosuke and Kanji were the sacrificial solo cups this time around.

Nanako tossed a peanut at Kanji and he snapped it up without missing a beat. Yosuke was… not so lucky. After some heavy panicking, poorly executed heimlich maneuvers and a horrific whack to the back, Yosuke was still in one piece, but he bore the face of a soldier that had come back from the war.

The phone rang just as the group finished clearing up. Naoto, being the closest to the phone, answered. “Hello.”

She looked at Nanako and then went back toward the handheld.

“Yes, he’s here,” she said, as she beckoned for Yu to come up to the phone. “Let me get him for you.”

She hands him the phone. Yu took it from her with a sinking feeling settling in the pits of his stomach. He already knew what Doijima was going to tell him.

“Hey, Yu. Uh, we had a pretty busy day today.” Dojima's voice was hoarse and gravelly, it sounded like he was going to keel over any minute.

Yup.

“I won’t be coming home tonight. This paper work’s really getting out of hand.” He sighed heavily, and Yu could picture his uncle clearly with his suitcase sized eye-bags and and his hand raking wearily through his unruly hair. He felt sorry for the older man.

“It’s all right uncle, we understand.” said Yu.

“Could I speak to Nanako? I feel terrible about this.”

Yu gave his assent and called Nanako over to the phone. She walked over with a resigned face that tugged at Yu’s heart.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey Nanako, um, it looks like I won’t be able to make it home tonight. I’m sorry.”

Nanako lets out a little sigh, “It’s all right, dad. Hope everything sorts itself out. Love you, bye.”

Nanako was about to hang up but then she heard a muffled exclamation coming from earpiece. She brought the phone back to her ear.

“-ait, Nanako! Listen, I think, just maybe, that I might be able to finish this in a few hours. I can’t come home today, but I think I’ll get tomorrow off.”

Nanako’s face lit up, “Really? That would be wonderful!”

“I’ll take you to Junes, okay? How’s that sound?”

Nanako was practically beaming by then. “I can’t wait!” she exclaimed.

“That’s good. Now, I’m going to need you to turn in early today. We can’t have you dozing off on me on the one day we get to go out.”

“All right, I love you Dad!” she hung up with a bang and gives Yu and the others a big smile. “I’m going to sleep now.” she said. “Goodnight!”

Nanako could be heard walking quickly up the stairs. Once out of earshot of the group, she quietly entered her room, before settling into bed and finally letting out a sob she’d been trying so hard to repress in front of her brother’s friends. Silently, she cried into her pillow, mourning the broken promise her father had made to put his daughter before his job.

 

The group went back to their books and worked well into the night.

“Aw man, I’m beat.” said Kanji, flexing his aching fingers. “I should have left— holy shit, an hour ago. My mother is going to freak—”

“Will you be able to pass with this?” said Naoto, her eyebrows dropped into a slight furrow.

Kanji squawked. “I’m not that bad! I’ve never dropped below sixty percent!”

“But you always come to me for help, I thought you were one test away from dropping out!”

Chie and Yosuke exchanged smirks and knowing glances at this.

“Naoto-chan!” Yosuke swooned, “Can you help me with this?” He shuffled closer to her. He drew her attention to his book, throwing smug stares at Kanji.

Unbeknownst to the group, the steady ticking of the clock in the hallway continued uninterrupted through their study group.

Tick. Tock.

As the crackling of paper and the students’ chattering and bickering continued, so too did the movement of the clock hands as the witching hour drew close.

Tick. Tock.

Gears ground, the gentle pattering of tropical rain fading into the background noise as the hands inched closer together, yearning to unite at the peak of the clock face.

Tick. Tock.

The chatter was cut abruptly by a familiar buzzing sound. The atmosphere immediately turned tense. Every head locked onto the TV, positioned neatly in corner of the room, watching the mesmerising patterns flickering on the screen. The static lightened, giving way to a hazy silhouette.

On the screen, the group could faintly make out a figure shrouded in a dark suit, moving his hand as though twirling something around. The figure seemed to be a young man, but aside from the hint of green eyes through the grainy static, little could be made out by the eight pairs of eyes glued to the screen. After what seemed to stretch for several minutes but was, in reality, only a few seconds, the screen flickered off as though the vision had never appeared. As the group collectively peeled their jaws from the ground, homework forgotten on the table, Chie swallowed in fear, before letting out a soft and shaky cry of “What the hell?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of this long awaited (not really) crossover between the MLB universe and P4. This is a collaborative effort between PinkNinjaWearsPink!, BookBass, and CuddlyMarshmallows. Comments, suggestions and spell/ info checks are appreciated.


	2. Miraculous at Midnight

 

 

“Hi everyone!” Alya’s face grinned at her audience through a distorted, shaky lens. Her hair was unkempt and she was panting heavily. “Alya here, live-blogging near the newest akuma- _ahhh_!” The auburn-haired girl cried out as she threw herself to the floor, dodging a stray beam in the nick of time. She picked herself up and adjusted her skewed, black-framed glasses. “Close one. Anyway, from what I gathered, this guy calls himself the ‘Optometrist’.” She flipped the camera over to an absolute wreckage.

The camera zoomed in on the villain not too far from her, video shaking as she tried to get close. There are holes in the ground, smoking and splitting the road down the center. The Optometrist’s eyes blaze, literally and figuratively. He has laser beams shooting out of them, hitting civilians within close proximity. He began to rant, the intensity of his lasers getting more powerful. “Where is Chloe Bourgeois?!” He roared.

 

“What’s she done this time?” Ladybug rolled her eyes, “This is the second time this week!”

 

Chat Noir dropped in from behind her, calling out “I was purr-ty busy myself last time. What did she do again, brush off an admirer?” Chat responded, shaking his head slightly.

 

“Something like that. We need to have a word with her if she keeps going on like this. With her miraculous, she really needs to focus on her image.” Chloe was trying, and Marinette knew it was hard for her, but the faster she got used to the idea of kindness, the less emotionally vulnerable victims Hawkmoth would have at his disposal.

 

“Just because _her_ eyesight is bad doesn’t make it _my_ fault!” The villain in white said, enraged. “I tell her she needs glasses, and just because it doesn’t _fit_ with her _fashion style,_ she decides to sue me for malpractice!” he yells as he shoots beams near the entrance of the school.

 

“Once I find that brat, I’ll make her _see_ reason… But first,” he declares wildly, swinging around to glare at Ladybug and Chat standing on the rooftop above him, “I have to deal with you eyesores!”

 

“Oh, Great, what’re you going to do, check our eyes? I’ll have you know I have 20/20 vision, even in the dark.” Chat Noir lets out with a self-satisfied smirk, to which the villain, clad in white with a blue, banded visor over his eyes, lets out another dazzling beam in their general direction.

 

Chat ducks under the beam just in time, yelping as it passes over his head. “Hey, watch it buddy! It takes a lot of effort to make my hair look this good,” Chat says as he struts, flicking his hair like a model. The Optometrist grunts in annoyance, shooting more beams their way, as the duo deftly dodged every attack whilst trying to draw the villain’s fire from the school.

 

“Chat, I think the Akuma is in his visor! We need to distract him so I can use my Lucky Charm.”

 

“On it, purr-incess.” yelled Chat over the rabble. He whistled at the Optometrist and then tossed a pebble at the raving villain after he was duly ignored. “Hey, four-eyes! Stop making a _spectacle_ of yourself and give up!”

 

Chat activated his baton and used it to leap over a building. It was an old Baroque building with stone lions and towering columns. As he landed, Chat shouted, “Cataclysme!”, his hands burning with darkness as he dragged them down the building before jumping back up the roof to safety.

 

The decaying, abyssal blackness of the Cataclysm ran through the building, crumbling stone, rusting metal and shattering glass until the building looked just about ready to crumble at the brush of a feather, cracks covering the surface and loose stones falling from the edges.

 

Right on cue, the Optometrist ran over to stand right under where Chat stood just as the walls crumbled. A lion toppled over him and the columns end up boxing him in. He would have blasted his way out eventually, but Ladybug ran back to the destroyed site, breaking his concentration.

 

There was a board in her arms and the Optometrist took this as a moment of weakness as both her hands were occupied. He mustered up whatever strength he could and fired a beam at Ladybug.

 

She smirked at him and spun the board around just before it hit its target. It wasn’t a board. The other side was reflective and smooth and just before the beam bounced of the silver mirror and smacked right into the Optometrist's gut, his last conscious thought was that, maybe, he should have given Chloe Bourgeois contact lenses instead of frames.

 

Ladybug and Chat Noir walked to the unconscious man and snapped his visor. The akuma was purified and freed, and the two heroes shared a fist bump.

 

“W-where am I?” asked the newly freed victim. He spotted the duo standing across from him and his confused pout was immediately replaced with a guilt-stricken expression. “Oh no.”

 

“Don’t worry, we all have those moments.” Chat Noir reassured the anxious man. However, the touching moment was abruptly cut by synchronised beeps.

 

“Well, would you look at the time! I’ve gotta run!” Chat Noir saluted and vaulted himself into the distance.

 

Ladybug backed away from the incoming swarm of reporters. “Same!” She said, quickly bolting in general direction Chat Noir disappeared to.

 

Ladybug quickly swung away and landed in an alley adjacent to Collège Françoise Dupont. Upon landing, bright pink light engulfed her, removing the spotted spandex and replacing it with her normal clothes. Simultaneously, a red creature was expelled from her earring.

 

“Sorry Tikki, I was really cutting it close that time.” Marinette apologised, slumping against the brick walls of the alley.

 

“It’s okay Marinette!” Tikki spun in the air, swan diving into the small purse hanging of Marinette’s shoulder. She poked her head up again to remind her, “You shouldn’t worried about me, the teacher is probably wondering where you are!”

With that realisation, she broke into a sprint in an effort to make it to class on time. She slowly opened the door in order to avoid bringing attention to herself. However, it was all for naught. The bell rang as soon as she managed to make it to her seat.

 

The teacher at the front, Mme Bustier collected her papers. “Ok. Don’t forget the assignment is due next Tuesday!”

 

With the conclusion of the lesson, chatter immediately filled the classroom. Some students immediately spilled out the classroom while others took their time.

 

Alya immediately turned to Marinette with a sly grin on her face. “Where have you been girl? I managed to get from here, to the akuma and back! All before you made it back from the toilet!”

 

“Uhhh…” Marinette averted her eyes.

 

“Did you get locked in again?”

 

“Maybe?”

 

“Girl, do I need to escort you next time?” Alya joked and stood up, immediately heading for the door. She looked back to see Marinette’s panicked expression. “Just kidding!”

 

They strolled to the courtyard and grabbed a seat on the lower floor of the school. Alya giddily recapping the akuma event, Marinette quietly eating with the occasional nod.

 

“-then, Ladybug swung in while Chat Noir had distracted him!”

 

“Hey guys!” Nino said, casually strolling up to them with his best bud Adrien

 

“Hey Nino!” Alya called.

 

Adrien politely waved at the two. “Hi!”

 

“Ad-Ad-Adrien!” Marinette’s face turned a bright red as she fumbled with her words. She started to nervously laugh when he enters the immediate area. “You doing good? I’m doing good! Hah-heh…”

 

Adrien shot a confused look at Marinette. ‘ _Why is she always nervous around me? I wonder what I did wrong?’_ He shook that train of thought and politely replied in an attempt to refrain from making her hate him even more.

 

There was a brief silence before Alya broke the ice with the latest Ladybug report. “Did you guys see the Akuma?”

 

Adrien lied through his teeth. “Yeah, I saw the Livestream on the way back from my photoshoot.”

 

“She was amazing today, right?” Alya says with enthusiasm.

 

Adrien eyes clouded over with just the thought of his lady and he pulled a goofy smile. “She is amazing every day.” His heart raced. ‘ _She is even better when you get to fight next to her!’_ he thought.

 

Marinette melted. Her head instinctively looks down to hide her emotion. She absolutely loved hearing him say he loves Ladybug, but it also pained her. He loved the perfect persona she had, the rose tinted image of her. Not the _real_ her, not Marinette.

 

Nino chuckled, adding “I swear you both are as bad as eachother.”

 

Alya stood up and boasted, “Well I am the lead blogger on the LadyBlog! It’s practically my job!”

 

“You are the _only_ blogger on the Ladyblog.”

“I love how they always see if the victims are OK afterwards, it’s so nice of them!” Alya praised the duo.

 

Nino pulled a sour face. “Isn’t that usually Chat Noir? Ladybug is usually caught up with the media.”

 

Marinette felt a twinge of guilt at the truth of the matter. She couldn’t let this stand. “Chat Noir deserves more credit. Ladybug can’t do it without him!”

 

“That’s true.” Alya acknowledges. “Wait, that reminds me!” She cries, quickly fumbling with her phone.

 

Nino smirked, “What? Got another theory about Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s identities?”

 

“Nope! Get this.” She said staring at her phone. “So, one of my viewers messaged me earlier. They heard this rumour that if you watch a switched off TV on a rainy night, when midnight strikes, your soulmate will appear on the screen!”

 

Adrien was on the edge of his seat. ‘ _Soulmate? Will that mean if I watch it, Ladybug will appear?’_ Just the thought made him giddy. Ladybug, _his_ soulmate!

 

“They said that when they watched it, Chat Noir appeared!”

 

At the sound of his name, Marinette’s eyes widened and she began to furiously choke on her food.

 

Alya and Nino immediately rushed to Marinette, comforting her after her near death experience. However, Adrien was too far in shock to move.

 

‘ _I’m not Ladybug’s soulmate? That can’t be true! It must be a mistake. It has to be!_

 

Nino noticed his reaction and immediately questioned him. “Dude, you okay? You look worse than Marinette.”

 

“Uhh, yeah.”

 

“Anyways.” Alya said. “We should all give it a go! Tonight!”

 

“Why? It’s probably just a fangirl trying to get attention.” Nino scoffed.

 

“You’ll never know, if you never try!” She beamed. “Marinette, you’re gonna try it, right?”

 

“I guess..Yeah?” She hesitantly responded.

_‘At least I can find out for sure if this works or not… Maybe I’ll get Adrien!’_

 

Nino looked to Adrien in amusement.“Bro, you’re not going to tr-“

 

“I’m going to try it.” He blurted out.

 

“Really? Fine. I’ll give it a go too.” Nino said in defeat.

 

“Cool then! Luckily the forecast predicts rain!” Alya looked to the sky, shading her eyes with her hand. “It’d be a shame if we had to wait.”

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. At the end of the day, the bell rang loudly, and the students let out a collective sigh as they packed up their gear and filed out, ready to head home for the day. The group of four assembled at the door, to discuss matters one last time before heading out. Alya walked up to Marinette and slung her arm over her best friend’s shoulder, talking into her ear.

  
“So, girl, you gonna watch the TV tonight?” she demanded, as Marinette visibly shrunk.

 

“Uh… Sure! I’ll watch it.” she replied, cautiously.

 

“Good,” Alya responded with a menacing grin, “Because I’ll be calling you 5 minutes before midnight to make sure you’re there.”

 

Marinette gulped at the threat audible in her friend’s tone, giving a shaky grin and a quiet “Sure, I’ll be there.”

 

“Great! I’m looking forward to hearing about who showed up on TV, Marinette. Maybe it’ll be Adrien?” Alya let out with a wink, before flouncing out of the classroom to go home.

 

At the same time, Nino was talking to Adrien. “So, who do you think you’ll see?” Nino asked his friend curiously.

 

“I’m hoping it’ll be Ladybug.” Adrien said, a far-away look in his eyes.

 

Nino sighed, touching his hand to his cap. “Dude, I know you have a crush on her, but so does half of Paris! What makes you think you’re the lucky guy, huh?” He asked, skeptic.

 

“It’s just… A feeling that I’ve got.” Adrien said with conviction, which left Nino puzzled, scratching his head beneath his cap.

 

“Whatever you say, man.” He huffed as he left the room. Suddenly it was just Adrien and Marinette in the otherwise empty classroom, and Adrien turned to Marinette, who began to blush profusely.

 

“So, Marinette,” Adrien started off, rubbing his neck, “Who are you hoping to see on the TV tonight?”

 

Marinette squeaked at the question, before stammering out, “Y-You! I mean, not you! I mean, not like I _wouldn’t_ want to see you, but… Oh, I don’t know.” she looked down at her feet.

 

Adrien, confused, glanced around awkwardly, before coughing and saying “I guess I’ll be off then. See you around?”

 

Marinette, startled out of her stupor, gave a quiet reply of “Sure, see you, Adrien!”

 

Adrien and Marinette went their separate ways from the classroom, Marinette heading home to her warm bakery, and Adrien heading back to his cold house.

 

* * *

 

Marinette fell to her bed. “What if Adrien doesn’t appear. What if Adrien isn’t my soulmate?!”

 

“Don’t worry Marinette! We don’t even know if this is real or not. Nothing may even show up!” Tikki said in an attempt to console her.

 

Marinette bolted up at this comment. “What if nobody shows up? What if I will be alone. Forever!” She flops back down, muffling her groans deep in a pillow.

 

“Maybe Chat Noir will appear? You guys _are_ pretty close.” Tikki suggested.

 

“Really?” Marinette shot an unamused face at her. “Plus, did you not hear? Someone else saw Chat!”

 

“Well-“ Tikki began before Marinette’s phone rudely started vibrating.

 

She picked up the phone. “Hold that thought Tikki. Hello?”

 

A faint buzzing was heard from the phone, right until Alya started to speak. “ _Girl, you actually picked up!”_

 

“Why wouldn’t I? I said I would do it, right?”

 

Alya retorted.“ _Well_ y _eah, but you seem to disappear from the face of the earth sometimes.”_

 

Marinette suppressed a giggle. _‘That’s because Marinette needs to disappear when Ladybug needs to appear!’_ she thought to herself

 

Rustles and muffled movement are heard from Alya’s line. _“Ooh, it’s already a minute to midnight. You excited? You’re probably crossing your fingers for Adrien, aren’t you…”_ Alya teased.

 

“Yeah…But we don’t even know if it’s real.” Marinette replied with nervous chuckle.

 

_“Well, we’ll soon find out in-“_

 

_“5”_

 

_“4”_

 

_“3”_

 

_“2”_

 

_“1”_

 

The TV flickered to life. Thick static covered the screen of the slim, black TV. An ominous presence filled the air.

 

 _“Mari! It turned on!”_ Alya breathed.

 

“Yeah…”

 

The static began to lessen, making way for a dark figurine. With every second that passed, the figure came to clarity. With every second that passed, Marinette’s stomach dropped. “Chat?”

 

“ _You see him too?!”_

 

Marinette saw him. She saw him a little too well. Blonde hair, green eyes, even the leather catsuit. There was no doubt in her mind. This was Chat.

 

_‘Why…’_

 

He was there, on the TV. She wanted to reach out to him.The gut-twisting feeling in her stomach told her something was wrong.

 

“Yeah,” Marinette audibly swallowed. “I see him. That’s definitely Chat Noir.”

 

“ _It’s a bit fuzzy, but I can definitely see Chat Noir. Though it’s a shame it’s not a soulmate thing.”_

 

“Really? It’s pretty clear on my end. I can make out all the details.”

 

“ _Well I can’t, but that’s mystery for another day. I’m gonna go and write a post about this now!”_

 

“Don’t stay up too late!”

 

_“I won’t! Night!”_

 

“Goodnight.” Marinette said before ending the call.

 

* * *

 

Adrien sat in front of his TV in silence. His leg bounced in anticipation for Midnight to strike. Plagg flew into Adrien’s line of sight, staying there for another minute before he started to whine.

 

“Adrien. I want my camembert.”

 

“Not right now Plagg, get it yourself. It’s nearly Midnight and I can’t miss this”

 

Plagg zipped around and landed on Adrien's shoulder. “Look at all this stress because of love, why do you humans bother? Cheese is much better!”

 

“Of course you wouldn’t. All you care about you and your cheese!” Adrien retorted. “You just don’t get it! Ladybug is amazing!”

 

“So is camembert. I rest my case.”

 

There was another period of silence as the clock ticked to midnight. Fingers interlocked, Adrien stared at the TV intensely, waiting for the golden moment when it would turn on.

 

‘ _Please be Ladybug! Pleaaaaaase be Ladybug’_

 

The TV screen flickered on, static dancing across the screen. The static cleared and revealed-

 

“Me?”

 

Plagg dropped from Adrien’s shoulder and began to roll around with laughter. “You got yourself! You’re destined to be with yourself!”

 

Adrien’s face paled at the thought of Ladybug not appearing on the screen, even more so at the fact that he himself had shown up. He watched himself swing his baton and perform an assortment of actions, the pit in his stomach growing larger until the TV switched off.

 

Adrien ran his fingers through his blonde hair whilst simultaneously pacing around the room. “No, no, no, no! This can’t be right!”

 

Plagg burst into laughter once again. “What? The fact that it’s not Ladybug or that you will be forever alone?”

 

“You're not helping!” Adrien hisses. His phone buzzes and he practically dives for it with hope that whatever it is, it will bring him to peace about the whole ordeal.

 

* * *

 

 **Nino:** Did you watch it

 

 **Nino:** I GOT CHAT NOIR DUDE!

 

 **Adrien:** Weird, I got him too.

 

 **Nino:** I just got a text from Alya

 

 **Nino:** She says her and Marinette also got Chat Noir

 

 **Nino:** I’m not judging if he swings that way buuutt

 

 **Nino:** He gets around…..

 

* * *

 

Adrien nearly choked when he read this. This is not good for his reputation, he’s got to do something.

 

* * *

 

 **Adrien:** Nino, I’m sure there are other explanations for this…

 

 **Nino:** Jk

 

 **Nino:** I know

 

 **Adrien:** Ok.

 

 **Nino:** Alya says that she posted about it on her blog

 

 **Adrien:** Hasn’t it only been a few minutes?

 

 **Nino:** She works quickly

 

 **Adrien:** I’ll check it now.

 

* * *

 

**Midnight Soulmates?**

 

Hey guys, Alya here! Sorry for the late post but, the craziest thing just happened!

Someone contacted me saying they heard a rumour that if it’s raining, if you watch a turned off TV at midnight, your soulmate would appear. This person tried it out and saw Chat Noir!

So of course I had to try it out. I got a few of my friends to do it with me just now and we all saw Chat Noir!

What could this mean? Well, my theory is that it’s not about soulmates, but something else. However, that’s all I got. What is your theory on this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PinkNinjaWearsPink: Sorry.
> 
> CuddlyMarshmallow: IDK lol


	3. Something's Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigation time.

 

**1/7/2009 - Sunday**

**Morning**

 

“Channel five?”

 

“No. Nothing”

 

“What about channel eight?”

 

“That’s Tanaka’s shopping channel. _Bruh_.”

 

“JNN?”

 

“Too broad. I’m pretty sure Inaba’s never even featured on it.”

 

“NHK?”

 

“That’s literally one step away from CNN or something. Get on with it, man.”

 

Chie groaned and shoved her head into her hands. “Ugh, this isn’t going anywhere. There’s literally no-one on TV this time. I can’t think anymore.”

 

Yosuke piped up from the back, “It’s not like you think otherwise anyway.” he dropped his line and scuttled away around the table before Chie had a chance to retaliate.

 

Rise cut in before things escalated between their two resident hotheads, “Who even has blonde hair here?” she said, “Unless…”

 

She trailed off and looked pointedly at Teddie, the others followed suit. Teddie squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. “I, er ... _no_?”

 

 _“_ Hang on for a second. Teddie isn’t exactly from around here. _”_ said Yu, always the voice of reason. “I think the TV functions on a criteria Teddie probably doesn’t fit anyway— and he’s already had to face his shadow self, I don't think you can do that a second time.” He gives Teddie a searching look, but the pseudo bear-boy- _whatever_ blinked back, his clear, limpid, blue eyes unwavering. “Besides, you’d tell us if there was anything bothering you, right Teddie?”

 

“Of course Senpai!” Teddie chirped back happily. “I’m _beary_ happy with everything right now”

 

“Maybe if we focus on a suspect we could deduce the victim later on.” interjected Naoto grimly.

 

“I’d like to rule Namatame out, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and with the wrong motive.” said Yu, with a grimace. “And as much as it pains me to say this, Adachi’s probably innocent as well. The last I heard about him from my uncle was that he was going to be stuck in prison for quite a while.”

 

“What about Izanami? Think he’s pulling strings from the underworld or wherever the hell he came from?” said Kanji.

 

 _“_ But didn’t we take down those gods? This shouldn’t be happening, Izanami promised to keep her nose out of human affairs.” said Yosuke vehemently.

 

“That’s possible.” said Chie. “But, well … she’s a _god_.”

 

“Like that explains anything! Look, maybe there’s another explanation. We need more options.”

 

 _“_ Yukiko-senpai, what about the Inn?” said Naoto. “Anyone there who fits the bill?”

 

Yukiko’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment while she tried to recall the customers that had booked in over the last few days. She shook her head after a few moments of deliberation and let out a noisy exhale. “No one that I can think of. I’ll check again but I’m pretty sure I’m beating a dead horse on this one. I’d remember blonde hair for sure.”

 

“Argh--Senpai! What are we going to do about this!” said Rise, her hands flailing around her in despair.  
  
The others follow suit until everyone’s attention is wholeheartedly fixed on Yu. He cursed their lack of initiative before letting out a resigned sigh. “We’ll have to go back into the TV then. That’s our last hope. Do all of you have the weapons and any extra equipment from the last time you went in?”

 

A split chorus of energetic and somewhat more reluctant affirmatives rang through the air and Yu finally felt like they were getting somewhere.

 

“Alright, so we’re doing this.”

 

* * *

 

**1/7/2009- Sunday**

**Daytime**

 

The television, surrounded by the other screens of the Junes tech department, did not appear, to the average observer, to be anything out of the ordinary. Being a rather high-end model, the build was polished and sleek; smooth titaniums and dark glass covering the inner workings that allowed the device to project an image. However it was unknown by the gang exactly where, inside the device, it changed from the technology to receive and play TV programmes, to the magic, capable of transporting a person from one dimension to the other. Yet still, inexplicably, the same screen had taken them on their earlier adventures into the TV world, and led them to Teddy.

 

Yu cautiously laid his hand on the screen, testing the waters before going deeper. The screen rippled, engulfing part of his hand, just like it was a year ago. He turned around and gave a silent nod before he pushed his way through and disappeared into the TV.

 

He stumbled into the foggy dimension, just barely catching himself from face planting into the hard floorboards under him. He straightened up, brushed an invisible speck of dust off his shoulder and finally popped his collar.

 

He gave his surroundings a quick once over. Once he figured that there was no one around him he pumped a fist triumphantly. “Still got it!” he muttered happily.

 

The air above him shifted and the hairs at the back of his neck stood at attention. Muffled yelling reached his ears and although he made a move to get out of the way, he was still too late.

 

A jumble of hands, legs and other appendages came crashing down on top of Yu. They crumpled into a messy heap, colourful swears and groans breaking the silence that usually greeted them.

 

“ _Someone_ get your foot out of my skirt!”

 

“Kanji, are you okay? Your nose is bleeding!”

 

“ _Could you get off me_?”

 

“I think I need myself a new ass.”

 

The team pulled away from each other, cataloguing their bruises and slowly untangling themselves .

 

Yosuke stretched out, grunting in approval when his back made a satisfying click and his shoulders finally stopped feeling like they’d been pulled out into two time-zones. He pushed his orange rimmed glasses up him nose and peered at the team scattered around him,  “We seem to be very much out of practice.”

 

Kanji wiped away the blood the dribbled down his chin. “ _Uh_ , no kidding.”

 

Chie squatted down and extended a leg out in front of her. “Well, we better get this show on the road,” she grunted as she tried to reach for her toes, “we don’t have all day!”

 

“Rise.” said Yu.

 

“On it!” Rise called back, stepping away from the group. She stood tall, head bowed in quiet concentration, taking a deep breath. In a blinding flash of light, a card appeared in front of her.

 

“ _Persona_!”

 

Himiko surged into formation behind her, her silken gown dragging against the dusty floor, yet never picking up the mud. She positioned her hands over Rise eyes and the scanner materialised between them. Her satellite-head oscillated slowly, preparing to pick up whatever Rise needed.

 

Rise squinted through the lens and her brows furrowed in concentration.

 

 _“_ Did you find anything, Kujikawa-san?” said Naoto after a short minute.

 

Rise hummed in response. “Yeah! I think I got something! Uh, the signal is a bit scrambled so I can’t make out what Himiko has picked up -- but I can definitely confirm that something new is out there!” She pointed off in to the distance.

 

As she peered down the path her scanner picked, a series of short icon bursts in the corner her screen aborted her detection.

 

“Guys, wait. There’s something a bit _weird_ about this one.”

 

“What is it?” said Yu.

 

“Dunno, my scanner’s blinking like mad, but it’s not detecting anything dangerous. Huh, that’s odd.”

 

“Well, give us a head’s up if this starts to go south.”  
  
“Ten-four, Captain!”

 

Yu motioned to the rest of the group to move in closer. “Alright, gang” he said. “It’s been a year since we’ve had anything to do with this mess. We don’t know what the state of the Shadows are like. They could have gotten stronger, or just puffed out of existence. I have no idea, whatsoever, with a place like this one.

 

So, this is the plan. We get in there, stay low and stick together. Kanji, Naoto, the two of you tail Rise when she scans. Everyone else, stay alert and look out for anything that can help us.”

 

“You got it, Yu.” said Yosuke.

 

 

* * *

 

The path they took to the portal entrance this time around was very unfamiliar. No one from the group had visited an area that looked remotely like this in Inaba.

 

“Maybe it’s going global.” Chie said carelessly with a smirk. Yukiko shushed her with a horrified look and demanded that she never bring up that suggestion again.

 

Even though their path had it’s trademark TV world-esque look -- dull, grey, _dead_ \-- the colours seemed more vibrant. Not welcoming, however, just more saturated. The grass they walked on had an acid like hue to it and the stone and marble cherubs that littered their path gleamed white and glassy even though not a single one remained intact. It made Yosuke twitch ever so often.

 

A squat four storey building had come into view. It had a massive glass terrace that was shattered through and a crumbling pillar that split the building right down the middle. The frame of a glass dome stuck out of it like a scrying hole near the top, but anyone sitting there would have probably fallen out given the state the place was in. Behind the building was a towering structure, but no matter how hard the team tried to squint at it, they couldn’t fathom its shape. The fog held too strong.

 

“Looks European,” said Naoto. “That’s … unexpected.”

 

“My theory’s starting to almost sound legit.” said Chie with a gleeful look on her face.

 

“More like a _conspir--_ ”

 

“Guys, stop!” said Rise, coming to an abrupt halt. Himiko threw out her arms out, pushing the team behind her. “Five Shadows at your ten!”

 

Yu closed his eyes, summoning his card. “Persona!” he shouted, and Izanagi appeared in the air behind him. At the same time, Chie and Yosuke called forth their personas, Jiraiya and Tomoe joining the fray against the warped, shadowed assailants. The floating spherical demons bubbled with black fire, letting forth screeching cries of mixed anguish and anger.  
  
Izanagi dashed forward towards the group, slicing horizontally at the level of the floating shadows. However, they showed greater speed and agility then at first it would seem; they jetted out of the way of the blade, moving with surprising velocity in seemingly random directions. However their shadow bodies were light, which made for their downfall. Yosuke shouted “Magarula!” and shot spears of air at the shadows. The shadows were temporarily stunned as they were buffeted by the heavy wind. Meanwhile, Kanji, Yukiko, and Teddie activated their personas.

  
“Persona!” accompanied the arrival of Konohana Sakuya.

  
“Persona!” accompanied the arrival of Take-Mikazuchi.

  
“Bear-sona!” accompanied Teddie rolling forward into the fray and summoning Kintoki-Douji.

 

However, one of the shadows had managed to dodge Jiraiya’s attack, and leapt forward at an unprepared and unprotected Rise. The shadow seemed to temporarily sprout black spikes as it hurtled at a fast pace towards Rise. At the last second, Himiko moved her arms to cover Rise, but it was too late - all but one of the spikes were deflected, but one was all it took. Rise’s forearm was grazed by the inky blackness, leaving a trail of torn skin and a nasty gash on the skin.

 

Rise let out a small yelp at the pain, before Himiko shoved the shadow away from her, The others, distracting the rest of the mob with light attacks to buy time, looked over at the sudden noise, eyes widening at the sight of their injured teammate.

 

“Rise! Are you alright?” shouted Yukiko, before shouting “Diarama!” Konohana twirled, and green light flared around Rise’s form. Her forearm knitted itself back together, and Rise tested it, bending it back and forth to make sure the healing was successful.

 

Yu frowned, turning his attention back to their foes. The straggler that had injured Rise had joined is allies, Shouting to be heard over the clanging of metal and screeching of shadows, Yu yelled “Alright, everyone, I have a plan! We need to round them up, then stun them somehow. Then we’ll finish them off.” Heads turned towards their leader, nodding in assent.

  
Teddie tucked himself into a ball and started rolling in circles around the group of shadow demons. As he tightened the circle, the wary monsters backed closer together. Pulling out of the roll and bouncing up into the air, Teddy shouted “Mabufula!” and the demons grew a thin layer of ice, falling out of the air and landing on the ground; however, they were struggling and it was evident the ice was not going to hold for very long.

 

Kanji stepped up; whilst the shadows were immobilised, he shouted “Maziodyne!”, and Take-Mikazuchi pointed his thunderbolt at the group of shadows. From the tip arced a yellow flurry of bolts, striking their foes and racing below the surface of the shadows, making them jitter and shake, and breaking Teddie’s ice. After a couple of seconds the attack petered out, leaving the five shadows, smoking from the high voltage, paralysed on the ground.

 

Yu shouted “Now! Chie!” and had Izanagi hold out his sword, tip touching the ground.

 

“Roger!” replied Chie, who had Tomoe stand on the tip of the sword before Izanagi levered the handle to fling Tomoe into the sky. Tomoe gracefully arced through the air before hurtling down towards the group of stunned shadows. With a resounding _thwack,_ Tomoe landed harshly on the cluster of demons, the shockwave bursting their forms into puffs of darkness that lingered in the air for a short time before dissipating.

 

Upon dissipating, however, the shadows gave way to what had seemingly been embedded in the shadows - Cash. And lots of it. “What the… What is this?” asked a perplexed Yosuke.

 

“It’s money, idiot.” chided Chie half heartedly, being somewhat confused herself. It was a large haul for a relatively small number of shadows, which left them happily surprised.  
  
“Well, you know what they say, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” muttered Kanji, who began lazily picking up money from the floor and counting it. The rest of the team helped collect the money, and after all was accounted for, they ended up with a considerable pile on the ground in front of them.

 

“¥40,713 total.” Yu said. Teddie let out a happy gasp, with some of the group letting out whistles.

 

“If we came here more often, we’d be minted!” adds Yosuke.

 

Teddie looks excitedly up at Yu, whispering “Maybe I could get my own Bear-rari…”

 

“Uh, sure.”

 

“Senpai, put the loot in here.” said Rise, holding out a tiny beaded bag.

 

“Sure, thing.” the newly stuffed purse is zipped up and disappears along with Himiko.

 

After trekking for a few minutes through the desolate urban streets, the group reached the point at which Himiko had detected the portal. From the outside, the building appeared to be a school of some sort, albeit in a terrible state of disrepair. Upon the crumbling archway was a tarnished bronze plaque reading “ _College François Dupont”._ They approached the school, since Himiko’s scans showed that the portal was in the premises. They saw the portal almost immediately. It shimmered just out of sight, not _in_ the school, or at the doorway, but discreetly behind a bush, hovering in empty space above the concrete floor.

 

Nothing was making sense anymore.

 

The team stood before it, tense and on edge. The portal, almost as if it had sensed them, glowed a bit brighter.

 

“I know I say this everytime we get to a new portal, but, _maaaan_ , I really do not wanna go in.” said Yosuke with a pout.

 

Yu stepped up, shooting Yosuke a rather smug look.  “Then just follow my lead. Simple as that.” He stepped into the portal without a second thought, disappearing from their view within a second.  

 

“I _really_ don’t want to go in…” Yosuke said, a cringe clearly evident on his face.

 

Chie rolled her eyes at him before a devilish smirk crawled upon her face. Yosuke paled. “Boo hoo babe, but you’re going in next.” she said mischievously.

 

Yosuke barely had a moment to shoot Chie a look of surprised betrayal before he fell through the portal kicking and screaming.

 

“Alright, Alright. I’ll go next.” she said, holding her hands up in surrender when everyone looked accusingly at her, “He just pisses me off with his whinging sometimes. I couldn’t help it.”

 

The others followed in after her, waiting for the dizzying feeling of changing dimensions wash over them.

 

Kanji suddenly piped up. “Hey, uh, I hear voices.” he said nervously.

 

“And I’m picking up multiple lifeforms all of a sudden,” said Rise in a panic. “It’s not just Yosuke and Chie in there already. We need to get--”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liberoryu: I love heckling Yosuke
> 
> CuddlyMarshmallow: God dammit Yosuke. 
> 
> PinkNinjaWearsPink: Ah. Classic Yosuke.


	4. Metro Mayhem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh Dear.

**_?/?/???? - ?_ **

**_???_ **

 

Yu hit the ground with a thump. His butt was sore from the constant abuse it kept going through. He made a move to get up, but distant screaming kept him rooted to the spot. The last thing he saw before he hit the ground for the third -- and hopefully final -- time was a tangle of legs and hands and that was when he decided it was time he took a holiday. 

 

This time, he stayed down, some long-lost caveman instincts of his telling him that the danger had not yet passed.

 

He felt Teddy fall through last and roll down the mini mountain of squirming bodies that had piled up on the floor. He was glad he stayed down, the others had softened the blow. 

 

Teddie was unusually heavy. 

 

Yosuke let out a muffled shout from his unfortunate position under the his teammates. “Again?!” he said mournfully.

 

The gang started to disassemble, their complaints filling the space between them.

 

Rise rubbed her back. “This is so unfair!” 

 

“I’ll say! We usually just walk in -- whomever this dungeon belongs to must like screwing with people!” Chie said through gritted teeth. 

 

“Holy shit  _ guys _ .”

 

It was Kanji, he had suddenly gone still, looking past the group. The others made moves to pull out their weapons, but surprisingly, Kanji stopped them with a hushed “ _ Don’t”  _ and frantically gestured at everyone to turn around.

 

Chie was still a bit antsy from their trip. “Ay, what the f--  _ oh _ .”  __

 

Kanji shot Chie a glare at her confounded look and motioned to the group of people that crowded around them eyeing their strange group suspiciously. Teddy especially, but the rest of the group as well, seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. The crowd began to quickly back away from them, throwing frightened glances at the group.

 

Naoto, always the voice of reason, let out a soft sigh, taking a moment to regain her calm composure. “It appears like we are no longer in the TV world.” she said as she calmly surveyed the situation and their surroundings. 

 

They seemed to have fallen into a…  _ bus _ ?

 

No, it wasn’t a bus, it was a train. Just how far from Inaba were they? The railway was miles away from Junes. You had to drive into town.

 

“In that case, put away your weapons,” said Yu as he pushed his sword behind him and away from view of the passengers. “We look suspicious enough as it is. When the train stops, we should move far away from here. Until then, act as naturally as possible. We shouldn’t draw any more attention to us.”

 

“Too late for that,” muttered Yukiko with a nervous titter, eyeing the discomfited crowd that openly shrank away from them. A young child had burst into tears when she saw Teddie, mumbling incoherently into her worried mother’s skirt. 

 

They followed his instructions as best they could. Naoto holstered her revolver, moving her coat over the firearm to prevent further suspicion whilst Rise, Yukiko and Chie started a pseudo conversation. For some reason this only seemed to make their spectators even more agitated. The stress seemed to throw Yukiko and Chie off as the uncomfortable mumbling around them got louder. The sudden anxiety made them talk more loudly and their movements grew erratic and forced. 

 

After a few failed efforts at holding up a front, Rise finally shushed them. “Drop it,” she hissed. “Clearly, I’m the only somewhat normal person here. Just … leave the acting to me and stop talking.” 

 

Yosuke had hung his kunai in his jacket, before surreptitiously crossing his arms over his chest to hide the bulge. Kanji unfolded his chair and sat down. Teddie started to whistle, which looked very disturbing, as his mascot suit was moving its mouth and producing  _ noises _ .

 

Yu looked at the haphazard group in front of him and exhaled noisily through his nose. They were obviously not blending in as well as they thought.

 

The sound of someone clearing their throat brought Yu back from his musing. A severe looking old lady was holding out her hand under his nose. She had an official's cap on her head and had a little silver badge pinned to her breast. With a start, Yu realised that her badge was written in English. 

 

_ Ger..tru..dee?  _

 

What.

 

A few moments passed by and the lady of tired of waiting for Yu to stop staring stupidly at her. She nudged her hand forward once again.  _ “ _ _ Puis-je voir vos billets? _ ” she said in a stern voice.

 

Oh  _ shit _ .

It wasn’t English. It was  _ French. _

 

The others had gone silent around Yu. They looked at each other in unison, shocked looks of realisation and confusion mirrored on every face.

 

“I-er, I,” said Yu. His mind was racing. He knew basic English because of school requirements --

But  _ French _ ? What were they going to do?”

 

“ _ Où sont vos billets? _ ” said the lady once again. Her ears had turned red; Yu’s life briefly flashed before his eyes.

 

“Er.” he said dumbly.

* * *

The doors slowly shut behind them, accompanied by the jarring hiss of the pistons.

 

_ “Vous pouvez revenir sur quand je vois vos billets!”  _ the conductor screamed as the doors met down the center. The train sped away from the station, leaving the group to stare on forlornly as it eventually turned into a blob in the distance.

 

Other passengers pushed past them, jostling everyone, some sending their group confused glances. Their getup was the equivalent of a big, honking, neon sign that read “Look!!! Over here!!! Strange kids that might fuck you up!!!  _ Possibly with magic cards and the power of friendship!!!”. _

 

After the main bulk of the passengers had cleared out and those that remained clearly had no intention of exiting onto the platform, the group made their way off the car and onto the platform.

 

The commuters moved freely through and around each other, flowing from what seemed to be the entrance of the underground area to the different platforms, with some moving into the cars and others coming out and joining the stream. The group decided to head up to the surface, where they hoped that they would get a better idea of what exactly was going on. As they rode up the escalators, the sun broke out through the concrete covering of the stairwell and bathed them in its warm glow. It was an unspoken consensus that they needed to have a urgent discussion right away. They turn into a quiet area-- a lonely corner of a park that had a single, weather worn bench at its end -- and scan their surroundings for any people.

 

“Okay, so this is definitely…  _ unexpected _ ” said Yu as he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. 

 

“I’ve a feeling we’re not in Inaba anymore.” Yosuke deadpanned. 

 

The other stare blankly at him. Only Yu’s lips quirked up with a hint of a smile. 

 

Yosuke sighed “This is what I get the one time I try to be smart.  _ The Wizard of Oz _ , anyone? Hello? Ugh. Anyway, it seems that we’re in Paris.” 

 

He gestured grandly to the fading Eiffel Tower in the distance. 

 

“What the --  _ how the hell did this even happen _ ?” asked Chie. She took in the unfamiliar landscapes, the cobbled pavements, and the city-esque feeling she got as she looked around her. 

 

“Are you sure that it’s real?” asked Kanji dubiously.

 

“Dude, that thing looks like it goes over three hundred meters.” said Yosuke.

 

“How the fuck did you just eyeball that?!”

 

“Guys, shut up. Teddie, can the TV world teleport people?” asked Rise.

 

“I’m not  _ beary  _ certain…  But I've never seen anything like that before. The TV world’s just really weird! I don’t know what happens when you get thrown inside! I have only been through the Junes TV!”

 

“Well, we have always entered the same portal, the ones that operate between both realms are spaced all round the place. It’s possible that you need a functional  _ pair _ if you expect to land up in the same place every time” Naoto deduced.

 

“Aw man, now I’m gonna miss Tanaka’s show.” lamented Yukiko. “We need to find a way out of here soon.”

 

“I don’t think Tanaka’s show is top priority.” Chie deadpanned.

 

“We could just try going back in a similar way from how we came.” said Naoto.

 

“Well then,” said Yu. “I guess we just need to find another TV and pray we don’t end up in Kansas.”

 

“Hey! That was my joke!” Yosuke pointed out, miffed that Yu had recycled his line.

 

* * *

 

Marinette’s flats slam against the pavement as she rushes, panting and out of breath, towards the trio huddled together near the fountain in the park across from the bakery. As the concrete gave way . Once she reached her friends, she doubled over, hands on her stomach, breathing heavily, whilst Alya, Nino and Adrien looked at her, bemused. “Sorry I’m late!” she exclaimed in between sharp breaths. 

 

Alya frowns, “It’s past noon already, girl, where were you?”

 

“Sorry, Alya! My parents needed me to help out with the bakery, they couldn’t handle all the orders by themselves.”

 

Alya sighed, pinching her brow. “It’s alright.” She turns to address the group. “Okay, since we’re all here now, we can discuss the reason we met up today: What we saw last night. What  _ was  _ that? Why did Chat Noir show up for all of us? It’s obviously not soul mates, could it have something to do with the Miraculous?” Alya paces the fountain, muttering. 

 

At this point, Adrien decides to speak up. “Yeah, it’s  _ definitely not soul mates _ .” Adrien shuddered at the thought. “And if it was about the Miraculous, wouldn’t it be strange that Ladybug didn’t show up too? She  _ is _ the leader.”

 

“NO!” Marinette shouts, as though repulsed by the very idea. **“** Uh.. um. I mean, they are partners, Ladybug needs Chat Noir. She can’t do it without him!”

 

“Okay girl. Put your claws away.” Alya placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying to cool her best friend’s temper. “I feel Adrien is right. If it is Miraculous related, I think Ladybug should've also appeared.”

 

Nino waggles his fingers in the air dramatically. “Maybe,” he peers around, mimicking fear as if looking for a ghost or spectre, “If you watch it another two times, the third time, CHAT NOIR WILL PULL YOU IN THE TV! OHoHOooo” Nino imitates a ghostly howl, then leaps towards Alya, his fingers hunting to find a place under her ribs, tickling her ferociously.

 

“BABE! STOP IT!” She cries, tears of mingled mirth and annoyance in her eyes as she shoves Nino’s frame off of hers.

  
  


They walk down the empty street, Alya and Adrien back into heated discussion, when Nino comes to a sudden halt, stopping the entire group. Alya looks up at Nino to enquire his reason for stopping, when she spies the rigid, critical look on his face. “What’s wrong? What do you see?” asks Alya, sobering up from her argument with Adrien.

 

“Look, over there. Doesn’t that look like an Akuma to you?”

 

Alya turns and, sure enough, on the opposite side of the street about 100 metres down is a small gaggle of people walking down the street towards them, beside what appears to be a human-sized mascot suit.

 

Due to the nature of the Akuma that currently plagued Paris, any colourful humanoids were under instant suspicion of being one of Papillon’s champions, so when the four Parisians spotted the conspicuous Japanese group, a theory was quickly constructed of the colourful mascot being the Akumatized victim, and the people around it victims of some form of mind control.

 

Marinette and Adrien’s faces steeled, anticipating the need to run off and transform, whilst Alya pulled Nino down behind a large wheelie bin, pulling out her phone and starting to record them. Once the group in front of them was around 20 metres away, however, they turned right into another street.

 

Alya stood up, pulling Nino, who made a noise like a strangled cat, along by the collar, and made a beeline to the corner of the street that the other group was entering. She tried not to be noticed by the others, but failed miserably when Kanji turned around to see a stranger (and her unwilling compatriot) stalking after them with a camera in hand, pointed towards his friends and with the recording light on.

 

A loud utterance of “What the fuck?!” from Kanji let both groups, including Marinette and Adrien who had made motions to follow Alya when she started to change positions, know that something was going on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liberoryu:
> 
> CuddlyMarshmallow: [leaves]
> 
> PinkNinjaWearsPink: I'm the only one here? Ok, that's fine.


	5. A-Kuma?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A-kuma? Me? No~

“The hell do you think you’re doing?!” Kanji stormed up to the quivering couple and squints down his nose at them. “You wanna go, eh?” he said threateningly.

 

Alya peered back up at the angry, blond boy in front of her and for once she had gone quiet. Nino discreetly tried to push her behind him, but this only seemed to make him bristle even more.

 

“Just answer my question and I might not do anything to you two. Why were you peepin’ in on us?”

 

“ _Oh my god._ The akuma brainwashed them!” Alya threw an accusing look at Teddy. He blinked back nervously and went to cower behind Yu.

 

Kanji was having none of it. “Aku-what?” he said, puffing up and glowering menacingly. Almost at once he felt smaller hands grasp at his arms and pull him back. He was absolutely incensed by now, and struggled against the tugs. “Let go of me!”

 

“Wait, Kanji-kun!” cried out Yukiko in alarm.

 

“Yeah! Don’t be so rash, will ya?” said Chie from the other side.

 

“Hey!” Marinette appeared behind her friends, Adrien closely tailing her. The two tried to position themselves between their friends and the raging blond punk with earnest looks of apology on their faces -- but underneath that there was something more protective and challenging layered into their expressions. It made Kanji falter.

 

“We are so sorry about our friends.” Marinette apologized “They’re just really...um, curious!”

 

Adrien nodded furiously. “Yeah, about that very, interesting…” His voice trailed off, and he looked intently at Teddy.

 

“It’s all right. Just don’t do it again.” Kanji said gruffly, scuffing the tip of his shoe against the pavement and stepping back. His eyes suddenly grew wide and he whirled around to face his friends, “Wait, guys we fucking forgot about Teddie.”

 

The four exchanged puzzled expressions, as they neither understood who or what this “Teddie” was, nor why it was so important to the group.

 

Rise peered around her, “What do you me- oh. Ohhh.”

 

“I suppose we should have expected anyone outside of Inaba to find Teddie’s unusual appearance… disconcerting,” Naoto remarked calmly.

 

Yosuke dragged Teddie to the front and pushed him towards Alya “Were you talking about him?”

 

“Yeah! The Akuma!” said Alya, going over Teddie with a suspicious eye **.**

 

“ _A-Kuma?”_ said Teddie, waving his tiny stubby arms around him in confusion **.** “I mean, I guess? I’m Teddie!”

 

Alya and Nino tensed up, stepping backwards slowly. Behind them, Marinette and Adrien looked distracted, eyeing the group in front of them warily. Marinette had started to nervously paw at her earrings while Adrien was fidgeting with his hands.

 

“Teddie, can you please take off the suit?” said Yu. “Everyone at Inaba might be cool with it, but I guess it’s rather out of place here.”

 

“Of course Sensei! You're right! They obviously want to see _me!_ ” A subdued groan was heard from Rise, whilst Yosuke and Yukiko shook their heads.

 

Teddie grabbed his zipper and slowly unraveled it in front of them. All eyes and one phone was glued to the bear’s suspenseful reveal. The top half finally popped off while the bottom half collapsed to the ground. What was left behind was a good looking boy, his looks on par with Adrien’s.

 

“Hello, ladies! Of course you can score with me.” Teddie flounced around boisterously, not realising that he was the only one entranced by his perceived beauty.

 

Marinette and Alya stood still, awe struck. Not because of his dashing looks, not because of his audacity to hit on them. No, it was for a completely different reason.

 

“Hey, Alya.”

 

“Yeah, Marinette?”

 

“Is it me or does the top of suit look lifeless and dead now?”

 

“No Marinette. It’s not just you.”

 

Nino pipes up curiously, breaking the awkward silence. “D-does he look taller?”

 

“Now that you mention it…” Adrien looked Teddie up and down, mentally recalling how he’d looked with the suit on and comparing it to his current height. “He does seem much taller, doesn’t he? How do you even fit into that?!”

 

The two groups stood beside each other awkwardly.

 

Suddenly, Yosuke walked up to Alya, staring openly at the device in her hands.  “Where’d you get that phone? I haven’t seen any model like this at Junes!”

 

Alya stopped recording, then turned the device around to present the interface to the curious group. “Junes? Well, it’s not the latest model but it should be widely available.”

 

“What?!” Rise shouted, before rushing over to where they stood to get a closer look at the device in her hands. “How? I thought I had the latest phone?!” she said warily eyeing the clunky device in her hands. It’s a Blackberry Bold!”

 

Alya gave her a confused look. “I haven’t seen one of those in ages! Look, Adrien has the latest model.” Alya reaches behind Adrien, swiping his mobile phone from his back pocket, before waving it around in the air like a hawker at market. Adrien squawks. “It’s an iPhone X.”

 

“Can I see! _Please_!” Rise begged, squirming with excitement.

 

“Sure! Don’t drop it.” said Alya, grinning over Adrien’s dazed face. He reached out forlornly for his phone, but alas, it’s in Rise’s hands now and she’s cooing softly at it. **“** You need to keep up with the trends, girl.” she added with a smirk.

 

“But I am!” said Rise glumly. .

 

Yu and Yosuke gave the conversation questioning looks. “Guys,” said Yosuke. “I have a theo-”

“I must apologise.” Marinette interrupted through gritted teeth. “For bothering you.” She pushed alya away from the group and the boys followed closely behind.

 

“Yeah, sorry dudes.”

 

“Bye!” Adrien waved giddily.

 

The group walks away and Marinette buries her head in her hands once they fade into the crowds ahead. “Ah! That was so embarrassing!” she groaned.

 

 _“Well, y_ ou can’t say Teddie’s suit didn’t look like an akuma!” said Alya, the boys nodded in tandem behind her.

 

“But either way, that group was weird. Who walks around in broad daylight with a suit like that? Unless they’re a mascot. Those guys have some serious guts.”

 

“They obviously aren’t from around here, they’re probably tourists.” Alya stated. “They had a few Japanese words, I think, mixed in with their french.”

 

“It _was_ Japanese.” Adrien corrected her.

 

“You know what? Now that you mention it—that scary dude, Kanji? He yelled at us in Japanese didn’t he?” said Marinette with a frown.

 

Nino shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. I was too caught up with that ‘akuma’ at the time to care.”

 

“Maybe they were cosplayers? Cosplay is a big thing in Japan.” said Marinette.

 

“Back it up a little,” Nino gives Adrien a look. “How can you be so sure?” A smirk formed on his face. “I didn’t know you learnt Japanese.”

 

Adrien averted his eyes, nervously stuttering out “Well, I can just tell? It’s different from Chinese?” His tone suggested it was more of a question than a statement, as he gave a small chuckle belying his anxiety.

 

“Sure.”

 

* * *

 

“Well that wasn’t awkward at Ñ _all_.” Chie snarked.

 

Yukiko doubled over, clutching her stomach and wheezing between giggles. “Teddie,” she chortled. “Oh my god, Teddie!”

 

Yosuke cleared his throat, trying to catch his team’s attention. “Ok. Now that they’re gone, you need to listen to my theory, it’s a bit … weird. Remember how we couldn’t speak to that conductor but we could speak to all four of those kids? Isn’t it weird?”

 

Naoto nodded, “That does seem a bit too strange to chalk up to a coincidence.”

 

“Well… what if we really aren’t in Kansas anymore?” Yosuke muttered. The others gave him a blank look and he rushed forward to plead his case.

 

Just hear me out!” he said quickly. “Rise, Remember their phones, they were way advanced compared to yours, and it’s supposed to be the latest model! Heck, that girl with the glasses even said she hadn’t seen one of those in ages! I know Inaba’s literally in the middle of _nowhere_ , but we would have heard of phones like that at the very least, don’t you guys think? Maybe we are in a different timeline or something crazy like that—honestly, after everything that happened last year I’m not even the least bit surprised.”

 

Chie rolled her eyes heavenward, “And I thought _my_ theories were crazy.”

 

Yu spoke up. “You might be right… Maybe we did jump forward in time. Maybe even across dimensions, er, if they existed. I don’t really know much about string theory” he chuckled sheepishly. The group’s hanging onto every word that came out of his mouth.

 

Yosuke opened his mouth to continue his train of thought, but Yu broke in again. “You know, I think there could be an explanation for how were able to communicate with them, but nothing too concrete’s coming to mind right now—I have a faint notion though, gimme a while.”

 

Rise’s eyes lit up suddenly, “I think Senpai’s right! When I was playing with that new phone, I saw the date and I think it said…” She took a moment to recall, thumb on her lip and foot tapping impatiently. “I think it said _2018_?”

 

The group shared a look of complete bafflement until Rise, suddenly aware of the implications of her discovery, backpedaled. “B-but don’t take my word for it!” she said nervously. “I was too busy falling in love with that _gorgeous_ chrome decked backing—her phone didn’t even need a stylus for the screen, I swear there’s something almost godly about that device!”

 

“That would explain why the phone was so advanced!” Yukiko said excitedly, giving Yu an appreciative look.

Yosuke nodded along, and opened his mouth a second time, “Als-”

 

“Well, we certainly can’t rule it out now.” Yu said

 

Yosuke glared at him, but it went unnoticed. No one looked his way.

 

“Ughhh, this makes my brain hurt!” said Kanji with a grimace, his stomach rumbling as he spoke. “And apparently my stomach too.”

 

“ _OOH! OOH!_ Teddie’s hungry too!” the bear squeaked. He pulled on Yu’s sleeve, “Could we take a break?”

 

“Yeah! It’s been forever since we ate! Time jump or not, we need to eat!” Chie demanded.

 

Rise piped up, “Well, sure, I’m hungry as well. We might've had a chance if we were still in Japan, but did you forget we’re probably in _France_? There’s absolutely no way we can buy anything with yen!”

 

“Maybe we can find an currency exchange. Let’s see how much we can round up first.” said Yu, and the others mumble in agreement, but Yosuke stayed silent. “Wait, here. I’ll start.” He pulled out a thousand yen note from his wallet. “That’s all I got.”

 

Kanji fumbled around for a second before pulling out a ten yen coin.

 

“ _Uh_.” he said.

 

“Well, if this was home, all you’d get is a yakiniku bar.” Chie snorted. “Also, Yukiko and I are broke, we didn’t carry our wallets.” The situation was the same with Naoto and Yosuke. Teddie … was an entirely different matter all together. He didn’t earn any money himself and just mooched off Yosuke when he could. He was broke and decking up a solid bill against himself that would probably never get paid back.

 

They looked down at the one thousand and ten yen in Yu’s hand.

 

“Welp, this really isn’t anything much, but let’s see if we can get ourselves some euros.” said Yu

 

“Wait!” Everyone looks at Rise. “I have more money, in the money bag from the TV world!” she whipped out her tiny bag and opened it. Her eyes grew wide and round when she peered in.

 

“What is it?” asked Naoto

 

Rise stuck a hand into the bag and pulled out a note, handing it to Yu with a disbelieving titter.

 

Yu looked at the note and then froze. He held it out for the others to see. “What on _earth…”_

 

It was an euro note.

 

“I guess that solves our food problem?” said Yukiko. “How did that happen?”

 

“We can discuss the details later… right now we need to _eat._ ” Kanji growled

 

“Yeah! Let’s just find a place to get the good kush from.” said Yosuke with a waggle of his brows. The others give him an unimpressed look and he wilts just a bit. “What,” he said defensively. “I just wanted to lighten up the mood.”

 

“Not with sixth century jokes like yours.” said Chie snidely. Yosuke turned red and pushed his way to the back of the group, moving away from Chie with a scowl.

 

“ _Anyway,_ we shouldn’t spend it all at once just because we have it.” said Naoto. “We don’t know how long we will be here so it’s best if we spend sparingly.” She looked pointedly at Chie and Kanji, who looked away sheepishly. “Also, what’s our exact total?”

 

Yu quickly counted up the notes and coins in the bag. “Around three hundred and twelve euro?”

  
“Okay, that’s done. Now before we do _anything_ … what the hell do we do with Teddy’s suit?” Yosuke said. “We’ve already made fools of ourselves here, it’s enough attention as it is, but we can’t just leave it anywhere.”

 

“Well, maybe we can just pretend the suit’s just a teddy bear?” Chie offered uselessly. “A very, _very_ large teddy bear.”

 

“Hey, that’s a great idea, Chie,” said Yukiko, slapping her on the back. The shorter girl doubled over with a grimace, coughing lightly after being winded by that blow. “We could drag it around and if someone asks, we distract them by making them touch the pelt!” she giggled.

 

“Teddy squeaks in distress, “that’s a bear-ibble idea!” he whined. “It will ruin my beautiful fur! It takes a lot of effort to keep it this pretty!” He moved to stand protectively in front of his empty suit.

 

Naoto hummed thoughtfully. “It’s a bit outlandish, but I suppose as long is it stays inanimate it won’t be problem, other than carrying it of course.” she eyed the suit in distaste. “It’s rather cumbersome.”

 

“We could also put the weapons inside his suit. If we carry them any longer, the authorities may get suspicious of us” said

Yukiko.

 

“I’m pretty sure we caught their attention ages ago, but yeah. Let’s do this.”

 

Chie waggles her brows. “Now who is the one with good ideas!”

 

After stowing their weapons, the group walked down the street with eyes and noses peeled, looking for a place to get some food.

 

As they walked past a wide street, Yousuke ground to a halt, almost visibly rebounding to the road they had passed, nostrils flaring as he drew in a deep breath.

 

“Guys, do you _smell_ that?” he exclaimed, turning towards his similarly enraptured companions. “Smells like fresh bread,” Kanji stated, starting to salivate.

 

The gang followed their noses to a small bakery just up the road. Yousuke, not one for restraint, ran up and pushed his face up against the warm glass.

 

Within the warm, sunlit store, Yousuke, joined shortly by the gang, could spy a vast array of delicious looking pastries, ranging from scrumptious looking meat pies to delicate, yet magnificent macarons.

 

“Well, it would appear this is where we’re eating today,” Yu piped up from the back of the gaggle, as he looked up and inspected the building.

 

It was a two storey affair, situated on the corner of two streets, with a park just across the road. On the large glass panes that made up a majority of the storefront were written the words “Dupain-Cheng Patisserie”, written in gold filigree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liberoryu: went away for her spring break and doesn’t know how to get her arse back to the grind. Also, she’s lost all concept of time. It’s always five o’clock somewhere and that’s all that matters. 
> 
> CuddlyMarshmallow: Wrote this without pants on. 
> 
> PinkNinjaWearsPink: Likes purple.


	6. Yosuke

The group shuffled into the tiny store, trying to settle in between the already established mass of people littered around the till. “Woah, that’s a lot of people.” Rise murmured lowly to her team. “I mean, we do make up half the crowd here but …”

 

“Well, I say if there are a lot of people here, then it must be good!” said Chie without missing a beat as she pushed her way to the glass displays. She started to fuss over the macaroons behind the display case. 

 

“Yeah, looks good to me” Yu smiled at her retreating back. Kanji groaned next to him.

 

“Finally!” he exclaimed. “I’m  _ starving.” _

 

The others made their way to stand in line and eye the food with hungry eyes. Soon enough, it was their turn. They looked to the counter and saw a familiar raven haired girl with blue eyes at the till, staring at them curiously. 

 

“Welcome! What can I get you?” Marinette said politely, eyes on the notepad in her hand as she checked off the last item on a list. She stilled and started stuttering when she finally looked up at the team in front of her. “Y-you lot! What are you doing here?!”

 

“Getting some food?” Yousuke chirped.

 

“ _ Oh.  _ Yeah.” the girl mumbled, an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks and reaching up to her ears. “Of course. This is a bakery after all... _ ha ha ha. _ ” 

 

As if set off by some sixth sense motherly instinct, Sabine strode over to check on the situation with her daughter. “Do we have a problem over here?” she asked, eyes narrowing at the shuffling crowd in front of her. “Lackeys of Chloë’s?”

 

“ _ No, Maman _ ! They are just… uh, some  _ really  _ nice people I met today?” Marinette said quickly, the sentence trailing into a question at the end.

 

“Oh hello, I haven’t seen you kids around before!” said Sabine with a beaming smile. 

 

The group went still. “Uh, we’re new. Transfer students from abroad and all that,” Yosuke covered up with what he hoped was a poker face. 

 

“Ah,” Sabine said with a nod and she pulled out a pair of tongs from behind the counter, “That’s interesting. Anyway, tell me what you kids wanted,” 

 

“Um, can we please get eight of these and four of those?” Yu randomly pointed at some of the confections on the first shelf.

 

She picked out the pastries and popped them into two paper bags, then she went to the counter to total the price. “Seven ham and cheese baguettes and seven eclairs?” Yu nodded dumbly. “That will be 68€”

 

Yu handed her a sum of the loose change and received an assortment of cash. Naoto and Kanji grabbed the bags of food. He passed an additional fifteen euros over the counter before he left. “Uh, could we also have some tea please?”

 

Sabine nodded with another smile, “Of course, dear. I’ll have those cups out in no time.”

 

“Thank you,” Yu said, returning her smile before he turned back to usher his team back outside. “All right, everyone. Stop hogging the floor, we’ll sit outside for a bit and I’ll go check in on the food in a few minutes.

 

Chie squinted at him, “You sure are making us work for our money.” she said with a pout.

 

“I’m being thoughtful.” Yu snarked back good naturedly. “The park’s barely a minute away, don’t be a baby.”

 

The discussion suddenly takes a nosedive as they near the park. 

 

“You know, it’s like we’ve been given a sign,” says Rise, eyes shining brightly. “We’re here for a reason.”

 

“Oh, for what now?” says Kanji curiously.

 

“Uh, I haven’t got that far yet,” Rise replied with a flush. “I mean, this is just as weird as all the times we got stuck in the TV.”

 

Yosuke perked up. “I feel like this is a bit different though. This doesn’t look like a place plagued with a fog.”

 

“Oh, come on, Izanami is the the biggest, baddest thing out there, and you’re saying there’s something else now?” Yukiko scoffed. 

 

“I mean we ended up in a completely different country, for goodness sake!” Yousuke protested. “They probably have different monsters here-”

 

“We need to figure out why Izanami would want to come back and mess with us after she promised she was leaving.” Naoto said. 

 

Kanji backed her up. “Yeah, we need to stop whatever she’s trying over here.

 

Yousuke scowled darkly. “Gods don’t back down on their promises.” he mumbled under his breath. He raised his voice a bit higher. “Look, it’s just that the currency change and the language barrier override seemed to contradict any Shadow or belligerent God’s behaviour. I think we were sent to work against something else. I think that Izanami’s on our side, and sent us on her behalf”

 

Chie looked at him unusually. “You’re just making up stuff now.” she said flippantly.

 

“I-” Yousuke tried again, hackles rising as he slowly lost whatever vestige of patience he had left. Why was no one taking him seriously?

 

“Maybe you need to think it over a bit more, senpai.” Teddie tried kindly. 

 

Yousuke suddenly snapped. “ _ Oh,  _ is that so? And what would a  _ shadow,”  _ he fumed, lips curling into an ugly sneer as the others murmured uneasily and Teddie gasped in shame. “know about anything?”

 

“Yosuke! That’s enough!” 

 

Yosuke exhaled noisily and looked over at Yu, who was staring at him with shock written all over his face. Yosuke's scowl somehow managed to deepen into something even more angry than it was. 

 

“Yeah, I don’t know what crawled up your butt and died there, but was that really any reason to take it out on Teddie?” said Chie from his side. Behind her, Teddie lets out a distressed whimper and it makes something akin to shame wash over Yousuke. But he doesn’t back down. 

 

Yousuke struggled to find his words. “Maybe,” he said slowly. “If you just  _ listened _ to me for once. I actually have something to bring to the table this time.” 

 

“Yousuke-kun, we did,” Yukiko tried, the palpable tension in the air making her wring her hands in distress. She places her next words very carefully, “It’s just not … very feasible.”

 

“Not  _ feasible?  _ My as-”

 

“All right, all right,” Yu steps up, hands held up in front of him placating. “Let’s all calm down for a second. Uh, maybe we should get back to brainstorming?”

 

Naoto, ready for a reprieve from the sudden drama, chimed in. “I second that,” she said. “I have a theory as well.”

 

The others nodded at her, and before Yousuke had a chance to reply Naoto barreled on. “What if,” she said, scratching her chin thoughtfully and staring down at her feet, “We haven’t actually gone anywhere and this is just a really detailed dungeon? It’s a reach for sure, it seems to convoluted to have an entire city full of people milling around where shadows roam.”

 

“They might be shadows themselves, could be an upgrade, haha” said Kanji nervously. 

 

“My theory is that this is all one big, crazy fever dream and I’m gonna get up any moment now and laugh at myself.” said Yukiko.

 

“I really don’t know how you manage to find literally everything amusing.” Chie said glumly as she side-eyed her best friend. 

 

Yu had been intently listening to the group’s theories, but part of him was still puzzled at Yosuke’s behaviour. A quick glance told him that his friend was sullenly staring at the ground, not paying any attention to what anyone was saying. A shock of annoyance flared up in him but Yu stomped it down before he said anything out loud.

 

But that was not the only thing keeping him a bit preoccupied. Yu had brought his hand to his lap and was surreptitiously inspecting it. It felt …  _ twitchy.  _ The same tingling he felt every time he tried summoning a persona.

 

There was no imminent danger around the group, but the tingling persisted. 

 

“I have a sort of theory as well,” Yu finally said. He settled down on the grass and motioned for the others to join him. Everyone bar Yousuke complied. He stood a few feet away, attention still on the group, but with his co-operation absent. His scowl deepened when he noticed Yu giving him a concerned look.

 

“I’m good here, thanks.” he bit out. The rest of the team made the wise decision to stay silent. 

 

“Okaaay,” Yu said, he turned around to face the others. "So, considering the fact that nothing so far has gone the way our normal dungeon trawling would usually go, I suspect that we are definitely not in the TV World—so, this is reality. Also, if you consider the other weird stuff that’s happened since we got here—and mind you, It’s not our standard weird stuff—I think everything that’s happened so far is intentional and for a reason. Now I don’t know who, or what’s caused this, but the best we can do so far is to wait and see what happens and plan our next move from there.”

 

Chie nodded enthusiastically, “Sounds like a plan.” 

 

“Everything seems to make more sense this way, senpai.” said Naoto with a rueful grin. “Beats my theory right out of the water.”

 

Kanji grinned at her, “I mean, your theory wasn’t so bad. But I agree with Yu-senpai. We don’t have much to go on and I want to know what I’m getting into before I start wrecking shit up.”

 

“So, we just wait?” asked Yukiko.

 

“I mean,  _ I guess?”  _ Yu said with a shrug. “There’s really nothing we can do about it right now. Anyway, forget that for a while. Let’s eat.”

 

Teddie perked up at that and immediately grabbed a bag from Kanji. “Eat up, everyone!” he said with a beaming smile as he pulled out croissant after croissant. Eventually, everyone had gotten a pastry, but both bags still had a piece left. “

 

Did everyone get a pastry?” He asked the group, peering at everyone’s full hands, “Who did I miss? Did we get extra, sens-” his eyes widened when he finally reached Yu and saw Yousuke glowering silently behind him, he had completely removed himself from the conversation. “Oh, Yousuke-kun!” he said, trying to go for a casual tone, but given his teammate’s current disposition, all Teddie wanted to do was take refuge from the angry scowl that was now trained on him. “It was you! come and grab your food.”

 

“Not hungry.” the boy spat back. The back of his neck as well as his ears had taken on a deep shade of red. 

 

“Honestly, Yousuke, what’s gotten into you?” said Chie indignantly from her spot next to Teddie. “You’re ruining the mood!”

 

“Fuck you,” he replied childishly. “And everyone else.”

 

“Okay, you know what?” Yu got up and walked up to Yousuke to stare him down, his patience finally worn thin. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you?” 

 

“Yeah, you jacked my theory.”

 

“I what? Yousuke, you’re just being childish now. Just—I dunno, go cool off or something. Get the tea. The walk will do you good.”

 

“Don’t tell me what to do, you dic-”

 

“Yousuke, please.”

 

Yu’s words might have been pleading, but his voice booked no argument. Yousuke growled lowly at the back of his throat before shoving hard past Yu and stomping off towards the bakery.

 

“How about by the time I get back, you come up with an apology for me, asshole!” he yelled as he disappeared past the gates.

 

Yu looked on in confusion, hurt written clearly on his face, as Yousuke stormed up to the  doors of the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

* * *

_ “Ahh. A neglected boy, never acknowledged— always forced to play the second fiddle to anyone who comes before him. I can only begin to imagine how painful that must feel.”  _

 

_ Papillion held up a hand as a pure white butterfly settled on it, watching it quietly as it rested on a knuckle for a few seconds, wings lazily fluttering, the only movement in the room. _

 

_ “All these suppressed emotions are a perfect target for my akuma. Maybe a foreigner will bring something new to the table.” he says cooly as the white butterfly bleeds into purple with malicious intent. _

 

_ His lifted his hand to line up with the telescoping hole in the window. “Fly away my little akuma,” he roared, “and darken his heart!”  _

* * *

Marinette looked up from her post when the door opened with a soft tinkle, it’s that funny kid from the group that cleared out the pastry tray a few minutes ago. He probably came in for the tea. Her eyes widened when the door hits the wall with an aggressive bang, and unsure of how to proceed, all she said was, “Welcome back!” with a nervous smile as her mother eyed the boy with a concerned frown as she nodded at him as well.

 

Yousuke nodded back tersely, “I’m here for the drinks.” was all he said.

 

“Right!, um,” Marinette fiddled around behind the counter for a second, collecting stirrers and sugar packets to pop into a bag before she handed two cup holders to Yosuke with a small smile. “Here’s your tea!”

 

Yosuke took the bag and the cups from her without any preamble. He dropped the money onto the counter in front of him and then quickly left without a word. 

 

“Rude!” Marinette said, once the door shut behind him. 

 

“He wasn’t like that earlier,” Sabine said. “That young man is obviously troubled about something,” she looked at her daughter pointedly, “You should check up on him.”

 

“I barely know the kid. What if he’s just a brat?” Marinette muttered sullenly. “But I’d feel awful if he was actually hurting about something and I didn’t do anything to try and help him.” 

 

Sabine nodded in understanding. 

 

“I’ll be right back, maman!”

* * *

 

Yosuke clenched the cup holders in a death grip, the lids puffed up and threatened to blow. “Who the  _ fuck  _ does he think he is?! Always getting the credit. Always getting the praise — _ why,  _ does he  _ always _ get praised, even for  _ my _ goddamn ideas. ‘Senpai, you’re right!’ ‘That’s a good idea senpai.’ How come they never listen to me? Am I just not  _ cool  _ enough.”  He shuddered to a halt and bit his lip in frustration. “What am I saying.” he said lowly, foot dragging against the asphalt and stirring up dust. “Of course I’m not, I’ll never be as good as Yu.” 

 

He leaned back against the fence he’d been leaning on and took a long, shuddering breath, willing himself to cool down and get back to the group with a slightly more ...aimable frame of mind. It didn’t work, the longer he tried to convince himself that he needed to calm down, the angrier he got. It came to a point where he visibly shook silently in anger, hunched up against the fence and throughout it all, completely missed the eerily glowing purple butterfly that settled on his headphones. 

 

The butterfly dissolved into a billowing puff of smoke and a surge of emotion  flowed through Yousuke. With a startled yelp, he dropped the tea.

 

“What the hell-”

 

A smooth voice sounded in his head.  _ "Captain Ressentiment,  I am HawkMoth. I can help you gain their respect and credit that was wrongfully stolen from you. I will give you the power to show who is the dominant one here and finally get the attention you deserve.” _

 

Yosuke grinned as the magic in the butterfly easend up his apprehension, subduing it with a sense of hatred and anger instead. Suddenly, all his indignation and anger felt justified completely, he wasn’t worried about the state he was in at all.

 

“HawkMoth, eh? 

 

_ “All you have to do is get Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.”  _

 

“Sure, Where can I buy them? I won’t judge.”

 

_ “...Huh.” _

 

“They aren’t some kind of toy?

 

_ “NO.”  _ Breathes in  _ “You obviously aren’t around from me.” _ Hawk Moth angrily rubs the bridge of his nose. _ “When Ladybug and Chat Noir show up, just take their jewelry.” _

 

“That’s all? Getting some jewelry is easier than fighting shadows. Consider it done.”

* * *

She dashed out the door and called out to him. She stopped in her tracks, she didn’t even look far. All the tea on the ground. Did she scare him? On second thought, did his outfit change?

 

The realisation hit her like a bird.  _ Akuma.  _

 

Without a second thought she did a beeline outta there. Being stuck in an Akuma attack as Marinette was highly inconvenient, this job called for Ladybug. 

  
  


“Wow, what’s taking him so long?” Chie huffed impatiently, scanning the area around their little group for a familiar shock of ginger hair.

 

Yu looked worried, “I think we were too hard on him.” he said, moving to make his way out of the park are a slightly accelerated pace. “I should go check up on him and bring him back.” he frowns sternly at them, “When we come back, play nice, alright?”

 

_ Does Yosuke really think I tried to purposely one up him?  _ He wondered as he strode out the gates. _ I need to apologise, fix this mess. I hope nothing’s happened to him, he should have been here at least ten minutes ago. _

 

Yu is about to the cross the road, but stops when he sees Yousuke standing a short distance away from the bakery, head bowed and eyes closed. He was muttering to himself.

 

_ Shit,  _ Yu pinched the bridge of his nose anxiously,  _ he snapped. _

 

“YOSU-” he started, but stopped just abruptly when he noticed something …  _ off  _ about his teammate. 

 

What the hell had happened to his clothes? Was that … was that his _ kunai?  _ Where the hell did he find the time to get it out of Teddy’s suit? And his eyes had taken on that same luminescent yellow that had followed when he confronted his Shadow back in the TV world last year. Just what exactly was going on?

 

“YOSUKE, WHY ARE YOU IN YOUR UNI--  _ eh? _ ” once again Yu was stopped, but this time it was a small flash of bright red that whistled past him, cutting through the air and making a bee-line right for Yosuke.

 

Their eyes meet from opposing sides. Yosuke give him a cold smirk.

 

_ Oh, hell  _ no _. _

* * *

He could hear Yu yelling from across the street.  _ Perfect _ , he thought,  _ retribution is mine _ .

 

Hawk Moth had finished clueing him in on his powers, “You know what to do, boy.” he said ominously. “Get whatever you need, but I  _ must  _ have the miraculous.”

 

“Of course.”

 

He took a step forward, eyes locked on Yu. He kept his face impassive when he felt the air around his spilt in from the side and neatly side-stepped the projectile flying towards him, raising an eyebrow at the thing when he came to the realization that it was just a lowly  _ yo-yo.  _ Then his eyes slid over to the girl on the other end of the rope, and he snorted as he took in the polka-dotted spandex. 

 

She looked mildly offended at the mirth in his eyes.

 

“You give people powers for vengeance, and ask for  _ that _ in return?” He asked Hawk moth incredulously. “You’d get the same thing out of a happy meal, if you wait long enough, and like, if you want a shitty costume that badly, just sew one yourself.”

 

“Silence, fool!” Hawk Moth hissed, “You cannot comprehend the power that lies in those mere trinkets.”

 

“Fair enough, I don’t particularly care anyways. I just need to see Yu going  _ down.” _

 

Hawk Moth made a sound of disapproval, but plowed on like the conversation had never happened. “ _Captain_ _Ressentiment_ ,” he said, putting emphasis on his new alter-ego. “That is Ladybug. Once you defeat her, you can assure your victory and get the revenge you so desire.” 

 

“With pleasure,” Yosuke said. He crouched down with a scowl and threw one of his kunai at Ladybug. She somersaulted out of the way, the blade neatly flying right between the arch of her back and the floor underneath her.

 

The kunai ended up embedded into a brick wall behind her and Yosuke grunted, willing it to return to him. The Kunai wobbled and slid neatly out of its groove, soaring through the air until it was resting once more in the palm on his hands. “I was close.” he sneered. “I’m pretty sure if this is all you’ve got, then you might as well save us the trouble and hand over those pretty earrings of yours.”

 

Ladybug made a dash towards the akumatized victim, scrutinizing his outfit for his potential akuma holder. “Unfortunately for you, it’s not that easy.” She smirked and wound up her yo-yo, readying her stance and taking aim.

 

“Ladybug, you should stop where you are.” Yosuke levelled her with an imperious stare. With dawning horror, she realises that she’s forced to do just as he suggested. Ladybug stopped in her tracks, squirming against the mental hold on her.

 

She tried to move her limbs but her body was acting against her. “W-what’s happening to me?!” She cried, training her fierce glare on Yosuke. All she got in response was a maniacal laugh. “Let me go!”

 

“What’s happening, Ladybug, is that  _ you _ will destroy as much as you can. Well, until that Chat Noir fellow appears.” 

 

With uncontrolled jerks, she turned around and threw her yoyo at a nearby pole, pulling down on the rope with all her strength until the shaft broke and collapsed onto the car underneath it.

 

“Score one for me,” Yousuke gloated. “Now then LadyBug, do you see that dumpster over there? Blow. It. Up.”

* * *

Alya ran to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery with her phone clutched in her hand. As she approached the area, she started a live stream and began to holler at her audience. “It’s Alya here!” She said merrily. “I’m at the scene of a new akuma. I still haven’t gotten a visual on him but it seems that-  _ OH MY GOD _ !” 

 

Alya shrieks and her mouth falls open in disbelief.

 

She directed the camera at two figures as they vandalised the street. “Ladybug is destroying our streets!” she gasps “I don’t believe it!” She focuses the camera on Ladybug, a firm tilt to her voice. “Something’s wrong, she’d _never_ do this on purpose. I smell some foul play afoot.”

 

Amidst her confusion she didn’t see Yosuke sneak up on her until it was too late. He grabbed her phone and clicked out of her current app, effectively ending the live stream. The last her viewers saw of the fight is Yosuke’s face up close to the camera, an ugly grin on his face before their screens went black. “Ladybug, tie her up.” He commands, slipping the phone into a pocket.

 

Ladybug threw out an arm and her yoyo and it wrapped itself around Alya. “Now Ladybug, tell me. Who is  _ she _ ?”

 

Ladybug clamps her lips together, shaking her head furiously at him but the pull was too strong, even for her. “Alya Cesaire.” she ended up spilling. “She runs the LadyBlog.” Ladybug bit her tongue, tasting copper at the tip but nevertheless she swallowed it down, hoping nothing more personal would follow this line of interrogation.

 

“Alya Cesaire.” said Yosuke in a low voice.  “Come here.” He beckons to a spot in front of him and Alya finds herself complying despite her struggling, walking up to him with a look of defiance on her face as the wire wrapped around her slipped to the floor.

* * *

Yu sprinted back to the park in a frazzled mess, his neatly combed hair in disarray and shirt half untucked after the wild dash back. He sees his friends running towards the ruckus and intercepts them. “Everyone! Stop!”

 

Rise bombarded Yu with questions. “Senpai! Are you okay? What’s going on? Where’s Yousuke?” 

 

“We heard crashes coming from here.” Kanji said. “And decided to see what was happening.” 

 

Yu takes a deep breath, with his hands on his knees and breathes in lungfuls of air, “Something’s...wrong...with Yosuke.”

 

“Come with me. We need to figure out what’s going on.” He motioned for them to follow back, but he took them around the side, creeping up to the edge of the fence to observe the battle. 

 

Chie squints at Yosuke as he picked up a rock and hurled it at a store front. It crashes through the pane and sets off its alarms. “Where the hell did he get his school uniform from?” 

 

“Never mind that!” Yukiko points to the weapon in his hand. “He has his kunai!”

 

“But Teddie’s suit should have it!” Naoto reasoned, beckoning at Teddie to unzip his bear suit and pop the head off. They peer into it and see his kunai sitting there with the other weapons. “Well then.” she said. “This is concerning.”

 

“Could  _ that _ Yosuke be a shadow?” Yukiko says.

 

“But didn’t he already face his shadow with Senpai?” Rise says, eyes wide as the wreckage gets worse.

 

“He has, But remember this isn’t the shadow world. So whatever that Yosuke is may be a entirely different entity all together.” said Yu with a frown.

 

Teddie tugged on his sleeve and pointed at the red blur jumping around and somehow doing more damage that Yosuke. “But...who is that lady, senpai?” 

 

Yu remembered seeing posters around the area with two figures standing heroically in the centre, the captions usually reading encouraging quotes and jubilant phrases.“I think she is a national superhero.” he speculated.

 

“Then why is she destroying buildings? I don’t think that is in the job description!” Chie argued.

 

“It looks like he was controlling her, because if it wasn’t for her intervention I would’ve been a goner. He looked like he was ready to slice my head off.”

 

“What.”

  
  
“He saw me earlier near the bakery when I went to go call him back and I think there would have been a showdown if that girl hadn’t jumped in and attacked him head on.”

 

“How about that other girl?” Kanji whispered. 

 

They turned back to the scene and watched the shorter girl walk up to Yosuke. He stood tall in comparison and laughed menacingly at her. Yu had to hold back Kanji, who had suddenly gotten up to square off against his own teammate and friend “We need to know what’s going on before we try anything. I don’t think he’s going to hurt her, look.” 

 

“Ladybug, stand guard.” Yosuke commanded. They watched Ladybug cease her incessant assault on Paris’ streets and stride up to the end of the lane. She readies herself for combat, yo-yo swinging lazily by her side 

 

Yosuke turned back to the girl next to him “Now then, Alya. You were live streaming, right?” 

 

She nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CuddlyMarshmallow:
> 
> Liberoryu: ripperoni yosuke
> 
> PinkNinjaWearsPink: Did we take too long? Most certainly not.


End file.
